LOCALIZATION OF MOBILE COMPUTING DEVICES IN INDOOR ENVIRONMENTS

• US 20130053053A1
• Filed: 08/23/2011
• Published: 02/28/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/23/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Zhigu Holdings Limited
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Agarwal, Sharad, Tashev, Ivan, Bahl, Paramvir, Constandache, Ionut
• Granted Patent: US 8,548,494 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 455/456.1
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 19/48 by combining or switching between position solutions derived from the satellite radio beacon positioning system and position solutions derived from a further system
• CPC Class Codes: G01S 5/20 Position of source determined by a plurality of spaced direction-finders
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 90/20 Destination assistance within a business structure or complex
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/021 Services related to particular areas, e.g. point of interest [POI] services, venue services or geofences
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/029 Location-based management or tracking services
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/33 for indoor environments, e.g. buildings

Abstract

Various technologies pertaining to localizing multiple mobile computing devices in an indoor environment are described. Pairs of microphone arrays are selectively positioned in an indoor environment. A localization service assigns a frequency and schedule to a mobile telephone, and the mobile telephone begins outputting vibrations at the assigned frequency and in conformance with the assigned schedule. The microphone arrays sense the vibrations, and angles between the microphone arrays, respectively, and the mobile computing device are computed based upon the sensed vibrations. Such angles are subsequently employed to compute the location of the mobile computing device in the indoor environment.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving data that is indicative of vibrations output by a speaker on a mobile computing device from at least one microphone array, the at least one microphone array configured to sense the vibrations; and

computing a location of the mobile computing device relative to the at least one microphone array based at least in part upon the data that is indicative of the vibrations.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data that is indicative of the vibrations is a digital representation of the vibrations.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the data that is indicative of the vibrations comprises directional information between the at least one microphone array and the mobile computing device that is computed at the at least one microphone array responsive to the at least one microphone array sensing the vibrations.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying the mobile computing device based at least in part upon the data that is indicative of the vibrations output by the speaker on the mobile computing device, the data that is indicative of the vibrations output by the speaker on the mobile computing device comprising an encoded signal that identifies the mobile computing device.

5. The method of claim 1, the mobile computing device being in an indoor environment.

6. The method of claim 5, the indoor environment being a retail establishment.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the location of the mobile computing device is a location in the retail establishment, and further comprising transmitting content to the mobile computing device based at least in part upon the location of the mobile computing device in the retail establishment.

8. The method of claim 7, the content being at least one of an advertisement, product information, or coupon for an item that is proximate to the location in the retail establishment of the mobile computing device.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving an indication that the mobile computing device is proximate to a building, wherein the at least one microphone array is inside the building;

assigning at least one of a frequency or a schedule to the mobile computing device, the frequency being the frequency that the speaker of the mobile computing device is to output the vibrations and the schedule defining time slots when the speaker of the mobile computing device is to output the vibrations.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the indication that the mobile computing device is proximate to the building is received from the mobile computing device.

11. The method of claim 1, the mobile computing device being a mobile telephone.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

causing a synchronization signal to be output, wherein the synchronization signal is configured to synchronize clocks of multiple mobile computing devices that are subject to localization.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein a frequency of the vibrations is between 20 Hz and 200 KHz.

14. A system that facilitates computing a location of a mobile computing device in a building, the system comprising:

a receiver component that receives a first signal from a first microphone array and a second signal from a second microphone array, the first and second signals indicative of vibrations sensed by the first microphone array and the second microphone array, respectively, that are output by a speaker on the mobile computing device; and

a location determiner component that is in communication with the receiver component, the location determiner component computes a location of the mobile computing device relative to the first microphone array and the second microphone array based at least in part upon the first signal received from the first microphone array and the second signal received from the second microphone array.

15. The system of claim 14 comprised by a computing device in the building.

16. The system of claim 14 comprised by a cloud-based computing system.

17. The system of claim 14, the receiver component receives an indication from the mobile computing device that the mobile computing device is proximate to the building, the system further comprising a frequency assigner component that assigns a frequency to the mobile computing device responsive to the receiver component receiving the indication from the mobile computing device that the mobile computing device is proximate to the building, assignation of the frequency to the mobile computing device causing the speaker on the mobile computing device to output the vibrations at the frequency.

18. The system of claim 14, the receiver component receives an indication from the mobile computing device that the mobile computing device is proximate to the building, the system further comprising a scheduler component that assigns a schedule to the mobile computing device responsive to the receiver component receiving the indication from the mobile computing device that the mobile computing device is proximate to the building, assignation of the schedule to the mobile computing device causing the speaker on the mobile computing device to output vibrations in conformance with the schedule.

19. The system of claim 14, the mobile computing device being one of a mobile telephone or a mobile media player, and the vibration being at an ultrasonic frequency.

20. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform acts comprising:

receiving an indication that a mobile telephone is proximate to a building;

responsive to receiving the indication, assigning a frequency and a schedule to the mobile telephone, the frequency being a frequency that a speaker on the mobile telephone is to output vibrations and the schedule defining time slots when the speaker is to output the vibrations;

receiving a first signal from a first microphone array that is located in the building;

receiving a second signal from a second microphone array that is located in the building, the first and second signals, respectively, indicative of vibrations sensed by the first microphone array and the second microphone array, respectively, the vibrations output by the mobile telephone;

identifying that the mobile telephone is outputting the vibrations; and

computing a location of the mobile telephone in the building based at least in part upon the first signal and the second signal.